€©)| The Idea ofnee fale Ps oy le Ales Camis “ Une Cari Pe, a Or Eso ovat “hegre nerf Comin Lin of Cong Cao on Daa awa 8. Os Bron) "Feta cape). Hath PemetBde) eta ilgriltenes IRAN esabete lk se {gee Chowan netic Tde 1 Sere Ee Una of oi Pes) PvE ES WoT ein the Une Sees Ames risesetes “Tepper winnie ements ‘eon Nonlinear ef Pp fr el tery Mca ANSIZ945 8, @™ Contents " a vl Preface ‘What Is an Ep Greek Pinary Epic ‘The Howie Age and Heri Poeuy 1 Homeric Epie 24 AberHower Hellenistic Epic TheThooy 46 Practice: Chee, Rhian and Apeloniae Roman Hsteieal Ele Vint ‘The Long Read othe Amel 85 TheAmed 95 ‘Aer Vigil 11 Lacan and the Fvian Epic The Belin ile 121 AferLaan 132 6 % 58 m “ 46vu Coens ‘The om of Epic Refomingthe Ee 18 Afr Mion 185 Notes General Index Index Loco ty 1st 19 187 Preface ‘The exiting turmoil of three decades of revolution i enticim have et the case vex mmc as they were the canonseal exersplars ‘ha continue o organize our Westen concepts of literature. The fea of lterary form presupposes such exemplars, and for that reason for students of the lemurs inspired by Cracco Roman faa the exemplar concinue o be worth examining. Of no gene [this truer than of the epics Whatever ese se may be~and to be succes it mst be something besidesan epic has a certain frm, “Tok why a lyric poet sings may seem a sly question, but © ak wy an epi pct chose to expres his thought in thousands of ves {sto pose a question that can only be answered fom literary sry In these pages T have tried to describe the aspects ofthe classical epic thar cemed to me ta shape the literary thought of modem expo nent of the gente. To ead Pre Li realize ho sll-c Selous epe poetry i. There ino epic poem that doesnt confront te predecesor: the themes that recur in the epic—herosm, the ration, the fare evolving ideas; and the en ie i com late, dhough to the end the Homer foundation was never cb scared Ihave ben, cheer, a the beginning; Homer, Ving and Lucan ae, naturally, the fot of ateation, bu other figures held in les reg deserve and have been given consideration. What theivik Pe oder succenon made of the Homeric and Vigan legacy ithe tubjet of another book, and fora achole wth a greater expertise than mine. Te eno more than hinted a here. Now ean do more than speculate why the gene ied “The reading ofthe grt epics leson in hii, nthe ace of their cits ae wll a the poet. The eas of many colleagues ae Acknowledged in he noes; many others, such 6 che corpus of cu rene scholahip, ae unacknowledged since, I hope, they have be ome part of common thinking. Ths is especialy tre where valu ‘he ertician published i languages ater than English or may otherwise be inaccesible o many student. have Been greatiy ssnted by the offcers and referees ofthe University of California Pres especialy whore bad writen arbi rather than or and we particular hanks co Profesor Thomas O. Rosenmeyer of the Univer of Caormia, Bekoley, These are not ey tines for casa Statism Bath universities, adits devotees have had to shoulder txts burden and spend wo thei distraction mach efor inthe tent ‘of plies, Profesor Rosenmeyers editorial patience hasbeen inex haimible. He changed my estimate of Apollon, he read several fs, and his ever help advice and readiness exchange eas hve been a peat encouragement to me. Where 39 chapters fall shor of his standards, heft, Teed not mie Onford JBL ‘Geraer 1989 @) 1 ‘What Is an Epic? “There nahing a matte mor iene han enw dacs, pec when they are hit upon wor ‘A limerick may be sid is dened bys form, 2 saree by its spi serenade by ks content, dre by ts occasion. But how te ive to dene an epic? Consider these statements by Arse, Taso, nC. M. Bow As Gt the ar of representation which Is naraive and in rete. there must be the sare varius of ene as of tragedy ‘and the constituent parts (with the exception of song and ‘Spectacle must he the sme». Epc dfs rom tragedy inthe length ofthe eompontion an in ete; A heroic poem (that, a epic) san tation of noble ation, treat and pee, narated inthe lofts vers, withthe sim of ving prof through delight 'An ere poem by cmon consent narrative f some length Gnd deals with events which havea certain grander and impor tance ai come fom a feof ation, expecta violent action sich as wat fe gies a special plane Becane 5 events end pesonsenlance out belief nthe woth of arn achievement td in the dignity and nobility of man! Asst xed on the form of pie~nazrative not dramatic form—2 wMarisaNzpic? because he wanted to dstinguish it from what he thought wat a near telegon, tragedy Tieo om the moral purpote berawe be fered ‘onfason with romance: Bowra onthe content and spi let We shoul amit the many kindof primitive song—storie of shamans, Caltare heres, mapcians, and god-—and cll them all epics. Ane tele comparison af epic and waged served him also wo disingulsh epi poetry From histor: poetry untserales, history concems self ‘wth parcalan. A versed chronicle therefore wae not an epic poem. These ate not negligible distinctions, and we should beat ther in minds is the atracve parts ofthe definitions that cause unease, What is allthis about repeeseneation and imitation, prot Gand special pleauret Are we nor being bullied sth theoretical wrstions? And the real Terry bullies in thi el, men Tike Sealiges, Le Boss, and Addon himel, re more ikaome than he clearthinking philosopher, tensive poet, and broad-minded Scolar. Le Boss forbade che action ofan epepom to take place in ‘winter, Decne he could Sd no precedent fr that season. The trouble fe that generations are made from parce poems ‘Aristotle defined epic in terms ofthe Thad, Tass in terms of the ‘Aeneid, andl Bowe in terms ofthe poems examined Is his Howie ery (London, 1952), especially dhe Homeric eps, the Anglo- ‘Seton Beowal. the OL! Pench’ Chanson de Rola, the Kighis ‘Manas, andthe Sebian epics of Kosove. Bur can ene poem, of spoup of poems, deine the gene? Epic poctey has many aspects, and an exces in one quay most be allowed to compensate for a deeiency in others To go into deal 0 insisc on this and chat, sr make one sore of epic poetry the teachstone forall the ret Aguinet sich a cours there i a fifa warming, In his Bs on Eps Pry (1726; French verson, 1733) Vols satircally alleged that che savaneof hie dy debe an epic poem aa Tang story invented fo teach a mor th ni ‘he hero performs some lofty deed, ih the id ofthe eos, the space of year” By the saan Vllaie meant Le Bost, whose long an exhaustive Tit de ode epic ad been published in 1673 fal axl endived the smayiation of evo generations. "Buc the English” Voltaie went on, foc he loved tbe Anglopile a well a rovocatie, "The Engl have an ep poem whose hero, fr fom Sceeeding i some notable terse in a year, even by divine asstance s deceived by both the Del and hs own wie in one dap Whar lamps? 3 ands thereupon expelled fom the ertestal parse. This poem revertless ranked by che English as che equal of the Nan face tnony people prefer it t9 Homer with some apparent justcatin,” ‘There were indeed chose who di sy that Paase Los was not an «pic, bur the poin hols. Accidents must not Be aken for eset. ‘The sane stress on moral ruth, lofty decd, aid of go, and particular span of time refecred the cancers of European literary fret between the Renaisance and the Romantic movement eve trove so did their inferences akout unity and completes of plot, Sarlety apd novelty of character, and propelety of sentiment and language All this eritealatention would have amazed the anony sous epic pots who stand atthe bead of most of ee hterautes of the work ‘Bt what ae the essential of epic? We are ooking atthe longest lived and moet widely diffused ofall eran forms. Epes have sprung tap with every appearence of spontaneity whenever societies throughout the world achieved a certsn stage of development or Certain kind of care. The Sumerians sang of Ligalbands and Enmesar in the thi millenniom me-, and if che epic icin ‘Wester literary tradition tems noe to have survived the nineteenth century is ofpring are ell wth ue There are very eatly poems, lke the Babylonian Gilgamesh, the Greek fad, and the Indian “Mahibhinzs, with complex iterary histories Theve ae the men ‘ments of Graeco-Roman iterate that modeled themselves formally fon the Tad and Oisey of Homer. There isthe heroic epic of redial EuopeBeowall, Chanson de Roar, Cant del id Ci, Tole of lepr’s Rad, Digons Alrias, Nidurgenled, and the ike) ‘There ae the masterpieces of Renaisance lnerture that combined the came of Viglls Aeai with, le was hoped, the preceps of Horace and Aristo. And there i the vase leratue of contempo- fay, peindustal Aft, southeastern Europe, and many pats of ‘Asia, which modem scholarship has partly preserved. What unites this enormous production of the human imagination Is there a Parone frm (in Gree, eds), sto speak, in which “epics” Participate more oles impersty? [Ac times, favorite exemplars have been elevated to such a stats ‘The Greeks idolized the Tad, Eaopcans of the Renaisance the Aeneid Bat whether we dra or rites om an exemplar orient jour om, the procedare has to datas In the Bs place4 WHATIS AN EPIC? exclusive and inwand-looking. I operstes so a5 to diagualfy cand Gbtes for epi sti and oer: no encouragement 10 those who ‘wonder how epic Became aterm of pase (ometins nt pra) in the jargon of teary reviewers cei what sense cate tenatvely 0 cue and steal eae, ofa princess! Pat the king of Pls is noe ‘entioned in hk documents and seems to have moved in diferent fghere.Tethaps hit view of fe and lve was diferent foe ehat of Ii adminisratrs. Ober LH kr coser co thet neighbors, a the nearer one approaches the center ofthe LH wot, che higher ane thicker the fortes walls become, At Mycenae and Tirys the wrelhpreerved bastions, easemates, and ally pors ae more than renal stenation. Late Heladic kings feared each ocet, and wich food reason. During LH Il Cnosos, Thebes, and Teog were sacked fd burned. For the vitor there was something t celebrate. On the wall af the throne room at Pos aftesco depicted a seated singe hadding a Ie before him. The pose is that ofthe ep singer Aescrted in Oasey i ‘A generation later tracy ae loxury had vanished aif they hadM6 GREEK PRIMARY EPIC never een, and Greece had entered wht Enalish-speakine scholars hve long heen accustomed 1 eall the Date Age. The Oredks remembered this calla a a plital vertu: the descendants of Heraces returned 10 Mycenae atthe head of dhe be of Doct Grea to cain thle jst inentance and disposes the house of Annes. We cannot verify this ory, forthe mate stones donot speak and ell us who ehiew them down but whatever the caus, the Callagse was eal, and so was aftermath: the migration of many Greeks to the Asiatic shoe ofthe Aegean. Narwally they kept ave the memery of past sors. “Al he citcumseances tht lead to the idea of «past Heroic Age vsere thus present: disaster certainly, prokably conquest, and mga tion rom the former homeland. The te didnot alo develop snd itbecame one ofthe mos important legacies inherited by the epic tradition from its progenitors® Amos without thinking, genera: sons of clwsial ee pets would cater imaginations back into ‘he Greck world ofthe second allen my and their modem kseendans have groped to find an appropate equalens. ‘Only in a general way, however, dil Gree heroic poetry reflect the wort ofthe archacalogats LH IL There wan unecresiney aboot ‘he locaton of Pylon (ast that ceased 10 be inhabited), bat most pace names suraved ito classial tes even if the ces they Asignated had, like Myeense, sunk ino villages oe rues. Legends ‘luted round the major LH sts in proportion, mote olay, t0 their LH importance, as that imporance might have been viewed from Micenae tll. So Mjcenae, Tiyns ad Argos figured promi ‘etl, ad so di thelr val Thebes tothe north Remorer places, such as llehus and Caydon in northem Greece, or Elis and Pls in the wester Peloponnese, were mentioned in one or two eles but Ihave connections with the cental area, Athens stood ro onesie, the Belgade ofthe Mycenaean werd, aloof fom the rales of the seat powers. Corinth, tot ter veration, dl nt appear at al.” Tewasknown that the age of the heroes was an ageof bronze, not iron, am age when ies were rled by king, not magistrates when laces, not temples, crowned the ctaely and when, of couse, {ok be the treme, and there was never lack of meat and ne forthe dally banquets of god-descended nobles. No memsry, how: ces, survived of Menaean lteracy, bureaucracy, and socal oan ‘ations suc things dal not iteest those who created the tales of Tieton Aprende ery ‘Heracles and the Argonauts, of Thebes and Tioy The chronology of these stories is shamiy defined, so sharply chat when the diate poet Hesiod sarveyed the history of the human race he could speak Gh an age of heroes, the men who died before Thebes and Toy {Winks ond Days 156-73). One generation sealted Thebes and failed inthe Argo; thelr sons ached Troy. Sometimes we know the fpames but not much ofthe deeds of thei ancestor and progeny. In chaeclogialrrms the so-called Hero Ages the late half of LH TILB, aad the dominance ofthe two generations im legend rest £03 est extent onthe genuine biliance of thar pesod® Tio the Heroic Age went the whole legacy of the past in en- hanced heroic color. “There were Brave men before Axaemnon,” sail the Reman Horece (ves W 9,25), rehearsing de cliche that there vas_n0 renown without poeery But i is mast unlkly that those pre‘Trojan heroes lacked a singe? Thy wer simply oushone by the dasling brightness of those mho fought at Thebes and Tey. Same, however, were too good to lose. According to his lial fenealogr, the great Ajax, the son of Telamon, was cousin to ‘Achilles bu appearances sometimes a better cive to paternity. “Achilles as the moat handsome ofthe Gredks, but Alsx t de tered as "monstrous a psfect bear of man, ‘who sheltered hit tue i haele behind a shield “like a tower” For three chousand Yeats, tll the Inte nineteenth cents, sf doubefl i anyone had Any notion what this ebjece was, fort the big shield depicted on the ina ades of daggers ound by Schliemann in the Sha Graves at Mycenae and dated ro the beginning of LH T (1550 mc)” ‘Soon afterward i was dacarded in fir of more manageable gest, ‘Along with is cutmoded shield Ajax preserved some obsolete ln {nage in sever places inthe Tad the dual number Aizrte, which ‘ve should expect to mean "the two heroes called Ajax” has the tous ene "Ajax and one other [vi his bother Teer" Foreign {to clasial Greek this wage s parle in Vedle Sass fe might ten be Indo-European, «hint perhaps ofthe extreme antigiy of ‘hie radon of ere poetry. ‘Though the Here Ape was happy to ecommodate afew dino- sours, it was wally inhospitable to anyone who lined tered CCaeles of anachronsis i the material word, the poetic raion as vigiane about is personne. Whol enbes of Grek ad no tole whatever There was leary consequence to this omision: Greek6 OREEK PRIMARY EPIC heroic poetry, and eherefore Homeric poetry, fced firmly coward a distant pat. Without conscious meaning to cheyarcaized. Later epic poets had co archalze deliberately and rk breaking the dr tate allison with anachronism; some ingeniously contrived (0 interweae dhe Heroic Age andthe contemporary wo esol poetry comes cheap and the Dark Age was not 0 per ‘she tha thowe who chime o be descended fom the eros could rot pay fr the celebration of ther ancentrs. But the exoral cirarstances of Greek heroic poetry made dual eontas wich ts potential In an aritoerte work dhe singer, though he mh be Inspired bya god, hada low opinion of his place. He was a member of the demise class hing a trade lke a Sothsayer, a docter, of a penter (of Od xt 354-85). His Job, as he saw was to entertain, This show heroic poetry aba appears in Homer: Phe tis sng to ame the suo of Penelope (M1 325), Demodocus to diver Oyseus and the Phaacians (Ovi 62), and Achilles sme himself (L186). These were ordinary secular occasions, not public ceremonies, Phemius sem to reside inthe palace, but then the ators demanded continous estvy. Demodocs, who isa to ‘be "honored bythe pope” had to Be feched prema from the tmaketplace or wherever his vulgar audience mht asernble. A a fepropate moment he tok his fe, seated humall ata seatege pon, and src up a prekae- Since al his had happened many tines Before, he dif not need to explain hi song would be taken from the gest sage ofthe Heroic Age. Naturally he selected 3 orion tht woul be wel rected hy is audience. Tha was why the ators who had not Been to Toy, Were regaled by Pheri with the deters of there who had. Buc suppose che singer msdged he Feclings of is bearen! In ae case they fle no ciigaon to hear im cut. Penelope made are sorte fom her chamber, made derogatory remark about Phemi song, and sence him (Od. 1337). Among the Phacacians Alcinous was even more highhanded: he put the Same value on song athe dl on wrestling (OM. wis 97) and made the Ind provide dhe musi fora public danee (Od. wi 254). Sometimes the aukonce would uggest te cn sujet, a Odyseur did at OL vi 492, knowing o presuming that the singe cou cope. ‘Where the singer was a the merey ofan adince well aeare ofits star and supenonty, what sot of are was posible? Professionally the singer wae an enteraine, whatever hs pretensions to aspect Thetleac Ape and Hoc eery rclonship with he Mus. Ta ve he had to plese, Pons were fran ey avast) asa thee wera tthe door, 0 there town the wy ws long and dhe welome uncer Allin Si fews besten sick othe ald song, tobe othe fie lot, fotrd wha woul Goube or dir, to amt lee. In ling {hero thste wan rehing for tt a8 scene t0 sen tthe fever ica call parts Noone coud say at he bepning ther the end woul be. The singer proceed sep by ne, i Pecmion on ech eine item Lngerng ov hesening we be thse the og of inert oe boredom. He might dis r hangs coum. Obvious cull ot be conde 0 ay rena tenets fey jen the suture posed bythe stay {hele Tere coll be no notion, sucha ter endeared al 0 ‘toe, of the wellsounded plot with ech fellate farts cortnated othe whole “The ue, howe, oe without its brighter spe. The heroic tne ere akin of encyclopedia of moray, eect an nage of then a they shoul be: honorable, bre, courteous. and pos founded by deel outs and chase wives Subeonscinsy ethags pole eee that hese pot cnc hee vues dos theeiewomethingto be exeemedw well aexoyed. Fm {he te of Hesiod the a of ong atest on ceremonial cca Sone. Thi development nas no en forthe ats id ot ener mo the finer pes of Proc the fd (i 57-893), bu i wae Inet feportane fo the fare, Until the ma wading pic, 2 thin unknown bee the ith century nc such fil aceon ‘ere principal eas whereby sige and gic pet ecb wer lene, Games and fetal were alo organ events ad lent ther aor to the sagt He cul plan and pepe Bi song tut some expectation of Bing ale to fash Ul that tape ened unless some poe insted on by shee ce of pes, Thesiger cold no be maser of sera soa oma edo ase ied nd ot rational sags and eke patton ed bin “To ecoune the les ofthe Here Age was no ek or amatcus “The rents and penal of tat dant cpoch const crys ef oledge’ that war not t be lured without much aps ton. Bt ht knowledge, hough neces, was neat ol the ores. The singer had to ell he te in vrs, and st shore nace or none tl He had, of eoure, no song bck, fo hie wat8 GREEK PRIMARY EPIC an ilerate age. Good analogial arguments show almost conch fel that he dd not memorize as we understands He war well ‘sheacied, since hi materal wae all tadtional and had been sung tym many mes before, but what he ata id wasr-veate the sng in the act of performance "Improvie” i oo stony a Wo, slthough some have wed, bu tint atthe uncanny silo he finger, 0 which a Homer simile pays enue: "AS one gues in ‘wonder at sings wha taught by goa and sings words of delighe men, and ever eagerly fra ang she sings do they dese to ear Im (Od. xv 58-20). Far che gods and muses of Homer, scholats cf today have substituted “poetical rama," a variety linguist skill seprimposed onthe sills implied by ordinary speech. Prac ‘al sn origin, these gave the teadional narrative sje is peculiar ‘geaity Is his excallent ace On Tratslatng Homer (London, 1865) Matthew Arsld wrote, "The tansator of Homer should above all, be penetrated by a sense of four qualities of his author that he i eminently ap that he i eminently plain an direct, Boh inthe ‘solution of his thought and in the expression of, that beth sn Tiss and hie words that ei eminenly plain aa direc nthe substance of his thought hat his matter and des: nd inaly that he is eminenty noble.” Mach ofthe indeed describes Howes, forin these medi Hesiod dd not achive ay ofthese qualities in he sme degre. Bat ome ret is due to dhe medium, ne chat omer hd inerted rom the singers of ere poet “The vere the singer chanted iene ofthe most famous in literary Isto Ie is alld in technieal Language the dati hexameter, 2 sequence of long and shore sllabes arranged according > the folowing pattern, wih eo shor sills (~~ )eaken as equiva Tene one let (—) foes ‘Those whose native language is English will probably real this patter a6 a succession of stressed and unstressed sales. That i barbarous, bur the melody fa language whose accent sone of pith and whose metres test ona fecling for quay isnot accesible, ‘without effre and traning, to hore accustomed to the dominance of sess, Read tas we may, the hesameter vee isa remarkable Instance of Greck serendipity. I had tobe repeated, according to the aloe univenal practice of heroic pote, hurdzeds of times a3 ong Iwas therefore a matter ofthe gestest consequence thatthe ThetioacAprond oe Reey exer came in thin two thythmical varieties. The monotony of Mich obsersers of modem here poetry complain was thereby Qroided, and there was ample opportunity to match the pate of tbe vene co the od and tempo ofthe though, “Te hexamer i abo a lng ves un comparison, sy, wih the ceght ales ofthe Finnish Kaleaa (che meter of Longo Song (f Hiawatha) oe the ten slabs ofthe South Slavic tation. The tect of along ere i noe only a certain dignity bat aso a certain Ari, since strong syacticl pauses ae likly to occur within the ene aswell atts end. About athitd of Homeric eres nich = ‘aus inline, Consequently the best hexamer writing ilays aig harmony of meter, lange, and sense. After Homer ‘Vigil was the conscious master ofthis art, yet what be exploited wat {potential nberen nthe exameter Tro the vene aeconting to Amol went a swifsioning singe sentence [ldomeneis) struck his in dhe right shoulder a be was Shout to mount is chariot Down he fll from bis cr, and dead arkness seed upon hin (I 9 46-47). These ewo modest verses semi moch thats characteristic ofthe heroic natrative syle. In the orginal they are indeed rapid and clea, because the seis ‘aiiive. The phrases ae distinc, noe inteace as chey re inthe involved and tatly ses of Vigor Milton. Esch haven i 8 ‘complete phase stacked against the one chat precedes, enlarging the fyntae without obscuring fe and drawing the readers mind along. ‘The four phmses that make up Ik v 46-47 are, asi happens, formulas. Heroic poetry everywhere i fll of such epeated expres fons, and in Homer there ae hundreds of them. Bot the long hexamer called forth special and conpcuous kind, noun + eather formulas, where the epithet if we consider only the essential tmeaningof the phrse, sreduant or at least has no det relation tots context. At IL» 47 “dread” ad ltl wo our concept of the Ake of death. Inthe vere preceding thov ited the poet ha to fxpres the thought "Hin omeneus with his pea struck” What Ihe sng as “Hl Ilomeneus fad fo hi lace with is og spear struck,” The two epithets ae apposite, but only in general way. Spears ave matrall long, and Momeneus was indeed a ware of Jig repute. But any suspicion chat the epithets ae specially appro ‘rate at this point inthe Tad must he digelled by the oberon | thar when a heroin Homer hasan epithe in his position i the2 GREEK PRIMARY EPIC were, he i seglaty ame for is lance", and thatthe spear i sways “long” when ie occupies the last fet of the verse. This, ‘conomy ofthe diction enough expressions, ut ony enough, 0 tree the metal requiemente-shows that in the re itance he Feemulis ae an aspect of the singer technique, not dhe peut of some ete asthe predilection.” Indeed the formulae diction seat a prblen for Homers crits and imtaton H was often highly Coleus “datk-louded blood,” “deep-eddying ive,” "winedark tea,” “cloud-gutbering Zese” Long epithets in Greck mean. com pound epithets, and compounding opens up site posses for ‘hearst in words. Bu inthe systems of formulas the eal eee isa bonus the singers were often oiiged to mee dei neds with Something taueclogos an gray: “sharp sword” “swift roms “as Tres” "sweet wine” “noble heroes" and so 0, ‘Besides his special dison the Gres snger had also ¢0 arm IhimelF with a pecal language. Poetical speech is always arial 0 some extent, bit that of the Greak art of song was exceptionally totic The singer prefered the forms and grammar ofthe dialect of Tonia, che mide sone of Greek setementon the easter shore of the Aegean, where the nansteam oferoc tradition wa preserved tthe admiteds liberal admature of archakms,neologims, dialect fens ard even certain abuses of sytax, There was method in thi feonfaion, nti the singers sought out and kept ay woe forms ofthe same sense bur diferent meas as they could nd. They Ad not choose outlandish words for thei om sk, a sf deliberately seeking a language redolent of the Heroic Age, fr the lone preva vbetever ut metielly accommodated to the hexamete." Of ‘ouse by being asociated with heoie postr, the special ngwage ‘ould not elp sounding ike che language of the heroes. No Gresk ‘pie poet fled wo ake advantage of But wht aor the sory fall How was se singer describe the heroes doing bre aver the docks of Cedips o the injured honoe ‘ofthe houe of trea? Heroic poetry puts the emphasisan thea of Storeng. An mdienc, acceding to the comment in the Orbsey| (eit 520) cited above, fels an "loatiable deste to hear” and Frequent alsin is mae tothe hold a storyteller execs ver hi bearer: Aleinous was ready to listen all right (OM. xi 375), Eure for thre dys (Od. x 515), Acclus for a morah (Oa 14), ana “elemachas, with youl enthusiasm, fora year (Od. 5 Te Ho Ate and Hare Pery ‘wed 10 Be the fusion for enies to pate what the called che enti of Homer. In fact, ike his forebears, Homer probably vented very itl nthe way of incident. The enc poet’ coer tion, wha Helped turn ero poet ito epic poet, lay raher sn the crea stude he took toward waitonal sores. Obvious pills ly in che way of che orl singer who sought, without the feheasal of repeated performance, to create a new kind of bate Fete 10 sick tothe tadtonal "hemes." The sequence of moc fn topics seems tobe the form in which a song exists che minds “ema cra singers a the present days Te war alo the means by inhi the poet of the Osher was able to summarize the episode of the wooden horse 0 succnedy (it 500-520). He defined the sting point—the abandonment bythe Greek of their camp—and proceeded 9 lis the constituent themes ofthe soy 1. “Odysseas an his frends wee siting inthe wooden ors.” (A catalog ofthe great an the good who entered the hore isan appropiate item at tis pote to ce la a catalogs common fora atthe beginning of major epeodes, eg i 454-75, i 89-104, x0 163-97) 2, “Around it the Trojins debated” (an ase, dapurstious and prolonged, a at 53-303, Of 11-256) 3, "Troy as fated 10 fall (a comment on the higher powers apd thei purposes, often exgresied though the personal interests of che Olympian gods, as at Ils 493527, xv 481-61, sui 166-86, Ot. 26-95). 4 The fhrng, consisting ofa general description lading @ list ofthe exploits and iene ofthe major heroes, (Thiet standard practice in the Tad, e.g. v 37-83, xvi 306-50.) 5. The arsea of Odysseus and Menelus, culminating inthe duel with Dezphobus, with a hint of divine inerwetion. (The arcana series of exploits performed in quick succes Sion by a singe hero oF & pac of heroes fighting togethers fone ofthe commonest Tae themes: 50, of coune, ithe he for the sequence of. IL xvi 394-486.) “These are quite general topics and within each are others af nae tower scopes rach os dhe engaents pro and coutra in theme 2 and Various sre of ght and dae n themes 4a 5 “The leo the wooden hose a precious example ofthe sor of